Record-high temperatures swept most of Europe this summer, but
in Moscow the weather, much like the political climate, was chilly. I spent three
months in the capital at the invitation of the Russian Union of Journalists, and witnessed
how Vladimir Putin's third term in office kicked off with the passage of
restrictive laws, harassment and prosecution of dissent, the jailing of an
irreverent punk-rock band, and death threats by a top-ranking official against
a prominent editor.